What is Eeyou Istchee?

Eeyou Istchee (the People's Land in the Eastern Cree language Iiyiyiu Ayimuun) is the Cree Nation territory in northern Quebec, covering about 450,000 square kilometres south and east of James Bay and Hudson Bay. The territory is the homeland of the Eeyou (James Bay Cree), one of the largest First Nations in Canada by population. About 18,000 Eeyou live in nine Cree communities: Whapmagoostui (Kuujjuarapik), Chisasibi, Wemindji, Eastmain, Waskaganish, Nemaska, Mistissini, Oujé-Bougoumou, and Waswanipi.

Eeyou Istchee is governed by the Cree Nation Government (formerly the Cree Regional Authority), which has the powers of a regional municipal government plus broader self-government powers under the Cree Nation Government Constitution. The Cree Nation Government replaced the Quebec municipal regional county (MRC) Baie-James structure in 2014 under the Agreement on Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory, the first comprehensive self-government agreement in Quebec. The neighbouring Cree-administered Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government covers a larger 277,000 square kilometre area shared with the non-Cree Jamesians (francophone residents of the surrounding Baie-James region).

The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement of November 11, 1975 was the first modern Indigenous land claim agreement in Canada and the foundation of Cree governance and Cree-Quebec-Canada relations. The Agreement was signed in response to the James Bay hydroelectric project, with Cree opposition delaying construction after the November 1973 Quebec Superior Court injunction. The Agreement provided $225 million in compensation, full ownership of about 14,000 square kilometres of Category I lands (with 1A reserve-type tenure), exclusive harvesting rights on about 150,000 square kilometres of Category II lands, and Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act self-government.

The Paix des Braves of February 7, 2002 (the Agreement Concerning a New Relationship Between le Gouvernement du Quebec and the Crees of Quebec) consolidated Cree-Quebec relations for 50 years to 2052. The agreement provided $3.5 billion to the Cree Nation Government over 50 years, transferred forestry decision-making to Cree-Quebec joint boards, and authorised the Eastmain-1-A and Rupert diversion hydroelectric project (which began producing power in 2011). The Eeyou Marine Region Land Claims Agreement of February 15, 2010 (effective 2012) covers the offshore Cree marine territory in eastern James Bay and Hudson Bay. The Cree School Board (under Cree control since 1978) operates schools in all nine communities, the Cree Board of Health and Social Services administers regional health, and the Cree Trappers Association co-manages the traditional harvest. The Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute in Oujé-Bougoumou (opened 2011) preserves Cree language, history, and culture.